Summary
At Bitcoin.com we use third-party merchants to process your 'buy' and ‘sell’ transactions (ie. transactions that involve local currencies like dollars and euros). These selected merchants help process crypto purchases enabling you to buy and sell cryptocurrency using debit and credit card, bank transfers, and alternative payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay and more. There are a variety of reasons you might experience a failed transaction while utilizing any of these merchant services through Bitcoin.com. In this article, we’ll go through all the reasons buy and sell transactions fail and suggest methods to resolve failed-transaction problems.
Table of contents
Common card - or mobile payment - related transaction failed reasons
“Transaction declined by the card issuer” or “Your card has been declined for an unknown reason.”
What happened:
In this case, one or more of the following may have occurred:
Your bank’s anti-fraud rules may have been triggered. Note that such rules take into consideration many factors and are not typically made public).
There might be a temporary hold on your card by the bank.
Your purchase session may have been locked due to multiple declined payments.
Your card-issuing bank might not support cryptocurrency related transactions.
Recommended actions:
Contact your card issuer to whitelist the transactions.
Try a different card from another issuer.
2. "Your transaction has been cancelled because we were unable to accept your transaction."
What happened:
Payment was declined by the 3rd party security system.
Recommended actions:
Use Apple Pay/Google Pay or bank transfer wherever possible depending on the region.
3. "Unfortunately, your account has been disabled due to non-compliance with our terms and conditions."
What happened:
User registered more than one account.
ID mismatches the person's profile, wrong date of birth or address.
A transaction with an unusual transaction amount.
Recommended actions:
Please reach out to us at support@bitcoin.com, or by tapping on the green chat icon in the bottom-right corner and we will investigate further.
4. Insufficient funds
What happened:
Your card balance has insufficient funds.
Recommended actions:
Keep a balance of at least 20% more than the amount you are trying to purchase.
Top up the balance.
Use another card.
5. 3D Secure authentication
What happened:
There is something wrong with the card issuer's security system or you need to an enable additional layer of cardholder authentication with your card issuer.
Recommended actions:
Enable payment via online banking app or by entering the SMS code sent to you.
Delete the card, add the same card again, and it should resolve this issue.
Contact your card issuer to enable 3D Secure.
Try with a different card.
6. Invalid Expiration Date or CVV
What happened:
Either your card is expired or you’ve entered the expiration date or CVV number incorrectly.
Recommended actions:
Retry or request a new card.
7. Other card-related transaction failure reasons
Recommended actions:
Contact your bank to whitelist the merchant.
Try a card from a different bank.
Try bank transfer or alternative payment methods.
Common bank transfer related transaction failed reasons
“Transaction Limit Exceeded: We're sorry, but this transaction exceeds your remaining daily limit of $0.00”.
What happened:
Customer exceeded daily transaction limit.
Recommended action:
You will be instructed on how to increase a limit directly in the widget.
First: you complete further verification in the form of POI (proof of income) to increase the limit.
Second: if you completed POI (proof of income) and then reached a new limit, provide further supporting evidence source of funds such as (recent tax return, a payslip or a bank statement confirming the salary credited).
2. “Your transaction has been cancelled as we did not receive your bank transfer within seven days.”
What happened:
You need to transfer funds to the dedicated account to complete your transactions.
Recommended action:
Restart and don’t forget to transfer the funds afterwards.
3. Insufficient Funds
What happened:
The account did not have sufficient funds to cover the amount at a time of the transaction.
Recommended action:
Keep a balance of at least 20% more than the amount you are trying to purchase.
Top up the balance.
4. Other bank-related transaction failure reasons
Recommended actions:
Contact your bank to find out your transfer limits.
Contact Support for additional help.
Third-party merchants that offer cryptocurrency purchasing services
Note that some of the above service providers offer alternative payment methods depending on your region.
List of crypto-friendly banks
Some banks tend to approve cryptocurrency-related transactions more than other banks. Here’s a list of the banks that have, in the past, been considered crypto friendly: Crypto-friendly bank list.
For declined transactions any payment authorizations placed on the card will be reversed (this can take up to 10 working days depending on user bank).
For any concerns, feel free to contact our support team by clicking the "Help & support" button in the settings or Chat Icon widget if you are using a Desktop or a Laptop. We areavailable 24/7 to assist.
Money left my bank account. Where is my cryptocurrency?
When initiating a bank transfer, you will see the funds pulled from your account immediately upon authorization. This is primarily so the service provider can lock in your quoted price. Due to the irreversible nature of cryptocurrency, the service provider must also ensure that all funds have cleared prior to finalizing the transaction. Depending on your bank, it may take one to two business days for the funds to flow between banks and enter the service provider’s system. Additionally, it may take two to three business days to clear on the service provider’s end. Once your funds have cleared in the service provider’s system, the service provider will transfer your digital currency to your Bitcoin.com Wallet immediately at the price that the service provider initially locked in. You can see the delivery time of your orders at any time by clicking on the specific order in the email you were sent or inbox message of your Bitcoin.com Wallet.
When will I receive my cryptocurrency from my card purchase?
Some payment methods such as credit and debit cards may require you to confirm all transactions with your bank. After starting a transaction, you may be sent to your bank's website to authorize the transfer (not applicable to US customers). Funds will not be debited from your bank or credited to your wallet until the authorization process on your bank's site is complete (US customers will see the bank transfer complete immediately with no confirmation through your bank). This process usually only takes a few minutes. If you choose to not authorize the transfer, no funds will be transferred and the transaction will usually expire after about one hour. Note: Only applicable to certain US, EU, AU, and CA customers.
How long does it take to receive cryptocurrency after making a card payment?
Card payments are processed immediately and the crypto is released once all anti-fraud and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) checks have been completed. For first-time transactions, this can take between a few minutes and a few hours, depending on additional verification that may be required. Most subsequent transactions will be processed within about 20 minutes, but occasionally during periods where the service provider is receiving an unusually large amount of orders or when the service provider is running additional checks, it may take longer.
Why was I charged before receiving my cryptocurrency?
As soon as you place an order, the service provider will put a temporary pre-authorization on your card that sets aside the correct amount of funds for your transaction. Unlike an actual transaction, a pre-authorization does not take funds out of your account, it simply puts a hold on those funds until the service provider can confirm you’ve passed the service provider’s verification process, and that your transaction has been sent for processing. Pre-authorizations will show up on your statement as "PENDING" and are not an actual charge.
Why do we use pre-authorizations?
A pre-authorization confirms your payment method is valid, operational, and that there are enough funds to cover the cost of the transaction.
What happens if the transaction gets rejected after a pre-authorization has been placed on my card?
If for some reason your transaction fails or is cancelled, we will cancel the pre-authorization. In many cases, the pending transaction will disappear the same day, but in some instances it can take up to 10 business days. Rest assured, you will never be charged for failed transactions and funds will never leave your account.